Nashville Shambhala Meditation Group
Established April 2004

 Nashvillians and Middle Tennessee residents who are readers of Shambhala Sun magazine, Buddhist practitioners, or interested in Shambhala Training have the opportunity to join a growing local community dedicated to the coordinated path of study and practice that is offered in centers around the world by Shambhala International. Shambhala courses are presented primarily in weekend formats, to accommodate contemporary lifestyles.

The Shambhala community offers its form of traditional Buddhism and Shambhala Training, a secular program developed by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the famed Tibetan teacher and author of more than a dozen books. Both paths employ the same mindfulness meditation practice known universally as shamatha.

This practice is the foundation of all other practices, and the foundation of all study. Without meditation practice, study is merely intellectual; without study, one cannot understand and practice meditation with confidence and clarity.

The value of a practice-based community, or sangha, is in the opportunity to gather for group practice and discussion, and to engage in informal and formal classes about the nature of mind and the path of being human.

Shambhala centers offer this opportunity in many forms at whatever pace anyone sets for himself or herself. There is never any charge for meditation instruction. Group meditation and dharma talks are open, and formal classes occur when interest arises and a certified teacher is available. Informal study is available with video lectures and discussions based on readings of insightful books by Chogyam Trungpa, Pema Chodron and other teachers and authors.